starlit heroics chapter 8 [wip]

~*~*~* Chapter Eight: Rainbow in the Dark *~*~*~


Soon, the party lay in their swim things on the white sand beach owned by Terrantia’s Royal Family. The group inside the castle joined them, if only to keep an eye on the blind thief that was now in their possession. Warm, gentle breezes rustled the leaves of strong, healthy palm trees in the afternoon light; the only other sounds around them being the gentle lapping of waves upon the shoreline.

Spirit continued to tend to Midnight, who now sat in a wheelchair and wore tight bindings over a leg that looked much straighter. Angel lay tanning in the warm sunlight next to Danielle, who was alternating reading a rather large, ornately covered book and watching Luna quietly build a small replica of Zempheriea Castle with Kaj. Starr preferred to head for the waves and splash about. The princess and her attendant both sat underneath a tree with a basket of apples, going through them like popcorn while Ila did tricks with the sand.

Dan, meanwhile, sat at the shoreline, staring out frustrated into the water. He was worried, for corn’s sake! Of course it was drugs. Why wouldn’t it be drugs? Why wouldn’t something go wrong? On the bright side though, there were only three kingdoms left. He still looked forward to seeing what Ethernealrus was like. The stories he had heard painted tales of surrealist mountains, and deep dark woods. They told of arcane fields of crystal, and plains made of fire and magma both. It sounded like an adventure he would very much love to have.

He still had to decide where to go from here, however. And that was proving to be rather difficult. It was either Glacientyr, or Shadowrian, that they would head to next. No one wanted to face down the problems happening in Ventureni right now. They didn’t know much about it, besides what their friends in the kingdom had told them about it, but they knew something was wrong with the royal family, and the king was the root cause.

Of course, all of their mothers suspected it already. He had seen the Venturenian queen come in for meetings before, seen the black eyes and carefully hidden bruises. She pretended everything was fine, for everyone else’s sake. Told them she fell off the windboard again. But everyone knew she was better at windboarding than that. She won the Kuukinoku City Air Ride competition, or at least ranked very high, with her daughter nearly every year, after all. Maybe she wasn’t trying to cover it up, but no one wanted to assume the worst.

So, Shadowrian or Glacientyr. Which one to deal with first.

Not at any point during this internal monologue did Dan remember that he was supposed to be relaxing at a beach. Not up until the moment a sphere of aura energy struck his back and sent him tumbling into the water.

“Hah!” Angel pointed. “Twenty points.”

“Why did you just shove my brother into the ocean?” Danielle asked.

“I was watching him. Mister Serious Business over there needs to loosen up and remember we’re having a break day.”

“He’s not wrong to worry, with what’s going on. After all, that’s every kingdom so far been invaded except for this one.”

Ila looked at her companion and picked up another apple. “So… should we tell them about Motormouth?”

“Nah. Might be best to leave it alone.”

“That’s fair.”

“So tell me how this one sounds. ‘Well, buttstuff is not in my taste, for you see I lack a prostate. But this girl, she can take it, two big cocks she can make it, right up in the depths of her tailgate.”

“Another masterful limerick, my dear.”

Dan soon surfaced, and instead of being particularly angry, he just sighed. Angel had a point. He needed to loosen up a little. Maybe it would be better for him to not think about it right now.

“Hey, if you’ve got something on your mind you can just say it!” Angel proceeded to call out to him.

So much for that.

“Just wondering where to head to next, I guess. If we’re doing Ventureni last, for… reasons I should hope are clear to everyone else, then that’s Shadowrian or Glacientyr.”

This seemed to catch Spirit’s attention. “Wait. Maybe I can make this choice a bit easier. I have a friend in Glacientyr who’s doing some studying at the moment. Maybe I can go there, while the rest of you go to Shadowrian. I’ll even take Miss Kitty here.”

“...The fuck does that mean?” Midnight would have given her a look, if she could see.

“It means you’re fussier than an angry cat and you’re coming with me so I can watch over you while you heal.”

“Ooooor you could let me go so your surgery’s actually worth somethin’ an’ I don’t get dead.”

“Ah, but you’re not going to get dead. There’s power in numbers.”

“But y’don’t understand-”

“You’re going, and that’s final.”

As stubborn as she was, Midnight was still too groggy from surgery to press it any farther than it had gone.

Dan, meanwhile, looked considerate. “Maybe that isn’t such a bad idea. Can you handle any threats coming for you by yourself?”

“They’d be hard-pressed to kill me, honestly. If I find my friend early, I won’t have trouble at all.”

“Sounds good, then. I guess Shadowrian it is, for us.”

Kaj seemed pleased at this. “Hey! Maybe we can find some way to revive that dead sand wyrm!”

“The sand wyrm wasn’t dead, numbskull. And it wasn’t a sand wyrm either. It was a dragon. The royal dragon. Who works for me and Dad. You were wasted out of your mind and only thought it was a dead sand wyrm.”

“...Awww. Killjoy.”

“It’s what I do best.”

“It’s still better than uber-shiny Lumentia...”

“Are you still not over that?” Angel groaned.

“They called me a fop! You called me a fop!”

“You were wearing women’s sunglasses. I just met you. You looked like a fop. I’m still not sure what you expected.”

“They were all I had!”

“And you could have stopped at any of the hundreds of stores in Ville de Briller that specialize in catering to people from Shadowrian who can’t handle bright light.”

Kaj raised a finger as if to rebut that, but paused. He hated that she was right, but she was, in fact, right.

“Anyway...” Dan swiftly interrupted before that could escalate into what he knew would eventually become a pizza war, “Does that sound like a plan to everyone else? We can head out from here, even.”

“What about those girls that you left in the castle?” Danielle asked.

“Cherry will take care of them. Come on. Cherry’s always on this.”

“I know she is, but I suppose I just wonder if it would be rude to leave them there...”

“It’ll be fine, Dani. They’ll get their Shenomire fixed and get back to where they were going safe and sound, easy as that.”

“I mean, I suppose you’re right...”

“Trust me, Dani. Nothing could go wrong with this plan.”

“...Statistically speaking, many things could go wrong with this plan.”

“Shhh.”

“I’m just saying, brother. Don’t jinx it. The fates are just waiting for you to say something like that, you know.”

“I know not to jinx it. That’s why I’m not saying it about the next crystal. So! Shadowrian it is. And while we’re there, Spirit can go get the one from Glacientyr along with… whoever this is. What was your name again?”

“Er… Midnight.” The blind girl shrugged.

“That’s a weird name.”

“Thanks, I picked it myself.” You could tell by her tone of voice that she had dealt with that comment before.

“Let’s take a little longer to rest. She needs to wake up more from the work I did on her. Perhaps we can camp, and set out by morning? Would that be acceptable?”

“Yeah, I guess that would be fine. If we brought camping supplies.”

“I can just have them brought out.” Ila quipped flatly from the back.”

“...You know, I can’t argue with that. Camp-out it is, I suppose. That’s fine by me. I could use the open air. You aren’t wrong, I’ve been tense...”

“It only got worse after the thing with flirts-a-lot.” Starr finally spoke up from the water. “We all saw it. Don’t need aura to notice that. I’m still pissed about it. Even after I know what happened.”

“It’s a lot of pressure, okay? Pushing back against… whatever that big guy up there is trying to do, and also getting sent on missions by the gods. It’s a lot. I just wonder what it all means.”

“It means some sky fuckboy wants to try to stick his dick right in our not-having-a-global-dictator hole.”

“And what hole would that be on the anatomy.”

“It’s like a butthole, but way more painful because he just stabbed it into you the second before he stuck his micropenis in it. I bet he has a micropenis.”

“I mean I guess you have to compensate somehow.”

“Hayward once told me it’s all society telling us all that dick size matters and that all you’re worth is your looks. He says none of that actually matters as long as the person on the inside is cool.” Angel interjected, “And I believe him. But also, it’s fun to make fun of a tyrannical overlord’s micropenis.”

“I can’t even argue with that.”

“I bet it’s so small he can repair his own clothes with it.” Starr cackled.

“It’s so tiny you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for pubes.”

“So small, even bacterium can’t see it!”

The group continued to laugh about micropenises until a truck finally pulled onto the beach. Ila greeted it, and began to unload firewood, tents and a box of food from the back.

“Here we go, guys. Camping supplies. Courtesy of the Terrantian Royal Family. Still can’t believe the gods asked you of all of us royals to do this.”

“...What’s wrong with me?” Dan seemed almost offended.

“Well nothing’s wrong with you specifically. It’s just that there’s a lot of us. Could have been anyone. Hell, could have been any rando on the planet they decided was good enough for a crystal-taking, Ethernealrus-going adventure.”

“Maybe it was me because they knew I would actually be able to get to Ethernealrus with what is apparently the portal gate closed. I don’t know. You think I know how gods work?”

“I mean I’ be less inclined to believe it if it was just somebody I’d never seen before breaking into the castle, thinking we all were dead, and demanding they go look for it. You know? Bit weird.”

“I get what you mean, it’s just… bah. Whatever.”

“I mean I’ be less inclined to believe it if it was just somebody I’d never seen before breaking into the castle, thinking we all were dead, and demanding they go look for it. You know? Bit weird.”

“I get what you mean, it’s just… bah. Whatever. It’s not important now.”

“So… Shadowrian, huh?”

“Yeah...”

“Pretty place, if you ignore Ananta’s existence.”

“Uuuuugh, that guy. Thinks he’s so smooth...”

“Thinks we don’t know how he’s got five girlfriends going at once and hasn’t told any of them.”

“Man, and they were talking about micropenises.”

“On the contrary I’d say that indicates the opposite of a micropenis.”

“Macropenis doesn’t sound very nice either.”

“That’s not my point. Somehow he manages to out-douche Teruchi.”

“That’s a feat.”

“Then again it’s also not. Big difference between trying to get laid and actively looking down your nose at the women you’re with because you think you’re above them.”

“Gross.”

“He’s not above my fists. I could break him in half easy. In fact I will if I ever see him again.”

“...Ila?”

“What?”

“You could break any one of us in half. That’s not a tall task for you.”

“Yeah thanks, I know. I can bench press an entire Tarblath now!”

“...Woah.”

“How’s about I come with you and I can be on Ananta-punching duty.”

“I mean… if you want to come with, sure. I don’t see why not.”

“It’ll be doing Ms. Shyama a favor. You hear she finally disowned him?”

“Ooooohhhhhh… that’s bad.”

“Got sick of him gallivanting around spending all the money I guess.”

“So when it’s time for her to give up the crown...”

“Dunno. Might see a new family.”

“Huh.”


The rest of the afternoon was spent soaking up warm sunlight and splashing about in the water while Kaj pouted about sunburn despite being of a dark, sun-resillient skin tone. The night passed with a nice dinner made by Ila’s attendant, whom Ila swore up and down couldn’t cook a damn thing in a kitchen but was somehow a master chef when it came to camping. The lot of them passed stories around the fire, and caught Ila up to speed on what was happening.

“...The entire royal dragon?” she asked.

“Just like that, through the floor. If I hit those walls I would be dead. His niece was hanging off of his collar and I think she knew about this before we did. Letro kicked his ass and then fucked off with a tentacle thing that pulled itself through the blood on the ground.”

“So he side-flipped.”

“I knew he was going to. He really wanted to play double agent. He probably just wants to fight the big boss but getting info for us and disrupting whatever they’re trying to do is a bonus. I have enough to worry about without some sky-dictator wanting a piece of Xephixir, but we just keep getting caught up.”

“I guess this is the part where I tell you about Motormouth, huh.”

“Oh boy.”

“So, I’m minding my own business, doing what I always do when I’ve got downtime-”

“You mean writing porn limericks.”

“Shhhh. Anyway. So then, Shana tells me, look out there’s someone in the room, so I look up and I see this scrawny broad in rags and a blindfold.”

“You mean her.” Dan motioned to Midnight, who looked like she’d be glaring at them if she had a working pair of eyes to do so with.

“Yeah. So, then we see her leg and we’re trying to talk her into getting treated, and then she tells us hey, there’s someone behind you. So I turn around and I see this even scrawnier broad that doesn’t even hit five feet and as soon as I ask her what she wants she starts talking. And talking. And talking. And she talked really fast. Really, really fast. I barely registered most of what she said but she made it a point to emphasize being sold into servitude at age five.”

“Oh.”

“So I’m just kinda left standing there like, okay that sucks but why are you in my house? And then it turns out she attracted reinforcements. So I beat them up. So much for a quiet, relaxing day, I’m thinking. And then. Then! You all show up fucked up out of your goddamn minds!”

“How were we supposed to know! Bitterblossom only grows in Terrantia!”

“I know you couldn’t know! It’s mostly just the cherry on the shit sundae.”

“… I mean, I’ll give you that.”

“Good. So that was my day.”

“And that’s been my week.”

“I can’t believe Danielle was fucking dead.”

“Me either.” Dan sort of shied away upon catching his twin’s disapproving glare. “Anyway… this is really good.”

“I don’t know how she does it, honestly. No, really. The last time we let her into the kitchens she detonated an oven. And a microwave. And a sink.”

“...Explain how.”

“We’re still investigating.”

“Gotcha. Amazing.”

“… I hope tomorrow is less stupid than the past few days.”

“Come on man. You got me coming with you. It’ll go fine.”

“You have a really high opinion of yourself.”

“That, my dear Dan, is called self-confidence, and you could use more of it. After all, you made it this far. You saved both Zempheriea and Magmarne from the sounds of it. You’re not dead yet.”

“Yeah, but how long will that last.”

“See, you’re doubting yourself again. Repeat after me. Everything is going to be okay.”

“… Everything is going to be okay.”

“We’re going to be just fine tomorrow, and we’re going to get those crystals.”

“We’re going to be just fine tomorrow, and we’re going to get those crystals.”

“Good! Now you’re on the road to self confidence.”

“Good! Now you’re on the road to self confidence.”

“… You can stop now.”

“You can stop now.”

“You’re an asshole.”

That managed to pull a genuine laugh out of Dan, and she smiled. He’d learn someday.

–

The next morning, the party was awoken by the sunlight over the waters of the Terrantian shores, and the continued sound of breezes rustling the nearby palms.

Dan groaned as the light hit his eyes, and rubbed his head. It had been a more restful sleep than the past few nights, at least. The dreams he saw were gentler, and had more of a melancholy tone. He ran from an unknown city with a group of teenagers, and he stared at the moon on the roof of a house in a place he had never seen. He still didn’t understand them, though. All these people and places he had never seen or only met in passing, where were they coming from?

Still, better that than never getting any sleep at all. He actually felt somewhat alive today, and he was grateful for it. He slowly rolled out of the tent and began to go through all the morning routines you go through when you’re camping in the beach. Making sure you don’t look like a train wreck, and shaking all the sand off your person, mostly.

Maybe this trip really was what he needed.

As he fixed himself up, he heard the sounds of the rest of his companions rolling out of bed. It was really weird to be the first one awake, honestly. He was still used to Letro constantly shaking him out of bed.

Speaking of Letro, Dan hoped he was okay.

Danielle was the first to emerge from her tent, looking a bit dismayed that she hadn’t thought to bring a spare suit. “Good morning, brother...”

“Oh. ‘Morning, Dani. You ready for today..?”

“As I’ll ever be, without my spare suit. Didn’t even think to bring my vest. Damn it.”

“Camping was a little bit impromptu, I guess… sorry.”

“It’s fine, really.” She shrugged. “I’ve gone out in worse.”

“You mean like the plumber pajamas.”

“Yeah. Like those. How dare you bring that up, I feel personally attacked right now.”

“Just because you feel attacked, doesn’t make it any less of a thing that happened.”

“You don’t have to come for my entire life, you know.”

“We had several questions.” Came another voice from a tent. “We still have several questions. That’s an unofficial rule in the library now. No plumber pajamas. Not even as a white elephant gift.”

“It wasn’t that bad, Angel.”

“Yes it was.”

“… Yeah. Yeah it was.”

“The sooner you accept that laying pipe can mean five different things depending on who you ask, the happier your life will be.”

“I don’t even remember who bought me those pants in the first place. Shame they got caught in the movie theater fire, though… stupid as they were, they were comfy.”

“I’m pretty sure we still have that picture of you running out of that theater in nothing but your frilly briefs floating around the castle somewhere.”

“And that’s why I wear boxers now.”

“That’s the smart thing to do.”

Dan cleared his throat. “Everyone get cleaned up and ready to head off. Spirit and the blind girl are headed to Glacientyr, and everyone else is coming with me to Shadowrian. Just to review the plan.”

“Got it.”

“Understood, yes.”

“Good. We can stop for breakfast once we get into Syakali, I think.”

“I know a place.” That was Kaj’s voice. “I can show you there when we get into town.”

“Sounds great.”

“I’ll find something on my own.” And there was Spirit. “That’s the wonderful thing about Glacientyr after all. It’s always so cold that a hot meal gives you that nice warm feeling inside. Lovely.”

“Alright. So once we’re all packed, we’ll be ready to go then.”

“You seem awfully impatient about it.”

“I can’t lie, I just want to be over and done with this fetch quest so all of our lives can go back to normal. Or… as close to normal as possible, anyway. I’m not too good at this leadership thing either, I guess.”

“You don’t really have to be. You’re our friend. That’s what’s important.”